§ 1. Not only can a supreme and absolute Prince send Ambassadors to and receive them from another supreme Prince; inferiors can also conduct embassies with a supreme Prince and indeed among themselves. The matter is disputed among Jurisconsults and political writers. Certainly, by ancient law private persons are forbidden to receive enemy Ambassadors as guests and to confer with them. On the other hand, the Princes of Germany and the Hanseatic cities send and receive embassies, as the Historians, Crantzius, and daily customs demonstrate. It appears to me that the matter can altogether be settled by an easy distinction.
No Prince can send to foreign Princes an embassy which treats a public cause of the entire Empire, especially to rivals or enemies. That care belongs to the majesty of the Emperor alone. It belongs to the head, not to one part, to govern a body so vast and composed of so many members; it does not belong to one part to conduct the cause of all the parts and of the entire Empire without consulting its colleagues. Such an embassy, whether sent or received, will deservedly be suspect. Therefore I remember that, when foreign embassies arrived bearing mandates concerning affairs of the Empire, the Electoral Princes customarily referred them to the Emperor or to the Diet. What is said concerning a public cause must also be understood of negotiations concerning the private affairs of individual Provinces when they carry prejudice to the public interest—for a private cause is then to the detriment of the state. But when the private affair of some Prince is conducted in such a way that it does not concern the Empire, although in comparison with the whole the embassy is private, nevertheless with respect to the Prince it is public. Thus, when men congratulate someone upon a victory, negotiate concerning marriages, or seek privileges for the commerce of subjects, the right of Ambassadors is altogether free. Bodin denies this in book 1 of The State, chapter 10, and accuses writers who think otherwise; but the Emperor and Imperial Diet concede these things, provided
that no prescription is laid upon public safety and supreme majesty. In this action not merely the things themselves but even suspicions must be avoided.
§ 2. Ambassadors are publicly sent, though not always openly. For there are certain embassies known either to the Prince alone or to very few; matters of the greatest importance and secrecy are sometimes transacted through merchants and Religious. They are nevertheless sent publicly because they are sent by princely authority. Thus even a matter which pertains only to the Prince is judged public, as when a marriage is under discussion. Hence it is clear that a twofold kind of Ambassadors is recognized. The first, with greater noise and pomp, not only conducts business but also represents the dignity of its lord by civil splendor. The other merely unfolds its mandate and is the naked interpreter of a will, entirely free from concern for other matters. It nevertheless comes with equal authority, but avoids expense to the sender and recipient, especially so that occasions for action are not delayed or lost through the empty superstition of ceremonies, of which there is neither measure nor end. Whether they call these men Agents, Appointed men, Deputies, or Commissioners, if they possess a public mandate, they are Ambassadors. The office, privileges, and security of Ambassadors are due to them, while immunity from ceremonies is granted them. Those who are afraid to name them Ambassadors have not yet learned to distinguish the different kinds of Ambassadors. A mandate publicly given and the power to act concerning the state make Ambassadors; seats, precedence, a crowd of companions, and similar trifles lie outside the essence of an embassy. And when business is conducted seriously, those empty things are despised. Moreover, subjects are compelled in necessity to undertake an embassy, as they are military service; yet it is not prudent to compel unwilling men to a difficult matter. The Venetians indeed command embassies to whomsoever they judge good, but rarely to the unwilling. If anyone does not set out voluntarily, he nevertheless grants this to the honor of the state: that he conceals his mind and presents eagerness.
Accordingly, an Ambassador will avoid ambitious splendor in his retinue, expense, clothing, and other things; indeed, so will the Prince himself. For among foreigners and the ill-disposed it is generally attributed to pride and is the mother of animosities and hatreds. I remember Ambassadors who, because they possessed certain faults or more conspicuous dress, were continually marked by the reproach of nicknames. Mockery advanced so far that many believed those things which had been invented as reproaches were their proper names. Nor does this happen to few; few escape taunts cast behind their backs.
§ 3. Ambassadors, even those of enemies, must be received honorably and lovingly. For they are angels and mediators of peace and endeavor to reconcile the human race without bloodshed. Even if they come to declare war, they must nevertheless be heard, for perhaps they will bring something toward impeding or diminishing the war. For when the anger of enemies is met with moderation and virtue and conferences are intermingled, much progress has been made. The Romans proudly rejected the Ambassadors of the Numantines; they ought to have heard men who had conducted themselves kindly as victors. Hannibal, according to his custom, kept away the Ambassadors of the Romans by warning them of danger on the journey and alleging that he had no leisure to hear Ambassadors. Pericles persuaded the Athenians to dismiss the Ambassador of the Spartans unheard and without honor. He did this with evil intent, so that he might inflame anger and war more greatly.
§ 4. Ambassadors must not be received into a city if they can corrupt the spirits of the citizens by gifts, promises, or threats, and there is fear that they will attempt it. For this reason the Ambassadors of King Tarquin ought to have been excluded, and the example of Hezekiah excluding Rabshakeh is remarkable. Much less must they be admitted into an Assembly if they are able to stir up commotions. The same reasoning applies if they come with the intention of spying. For the Ambassadors of enemy and rival Princes are very often spies, and at Court they possess men who report the most secret matters to them. The Kings supply many examples of this in our own years and render the same service in return. Yet when it is judged that they will be dangerous in camps or cities, when resources are slender, they are not admitted. At Rome they frequently gave enemy Ambassadors a meeting of the Senate outside the City. The Kings sometimes forbade them to come to Rome. They ordered Hannibal’s Ambassadors to depart from Roman territory before night. They refused to possess spectators of their anxiety and calamity. Yet there is less danger in an Ambassador when secret spies are innumerable and guards can readily be assigned to an Ambassador under the appearance of duty and honor, while the cunning of secret spies is unavoidable.
§ 5. Ambassadors are not customarily heard when they either deny a title which is due or arrogate to their lords one which is not due. The King of Hungary ordered the Ambassadors of a Voivode who named their lord King of Pannonia to depart. Aemilius spurned the letter of the defeated Perseus, who nevertheless called himself King of Macedonia, and did not even deem it worthy of reading. Accordingly, it is not prudent to send Ambassadors to those with whom there is controversy over a title. For spirits on both sides are embittered, and impediments to peace are offered by the very negotiation of peace.
On the other hand, Ambassadors must be heard honorably and not treated with contempt. Curius invited them indecorously and sordidly to turnips, and by an ostentatious display of poverty exposed Roman majesty to ridicule. In private life economy and modesty are praised; magnificence must be exhibited publicly. Artaxerxes’ fashioning of knife-handles while hearing Ambassadors was also a rustic display. A petty King of the Indians combed his hair while the Ambassadors completed their speeches. These are the actions of men who are foolishly proud and gather great hatreds without profit.
§ 6. Ambassadors are sometimes affected with the highest honor. By sitting, giving an opinion, and subscribing they sometimes hold the place of their lords; at other times they are compelled to yield. Both other Ambassadors and even those of the Emperor yield to the King of the Romans, for he is judged the supreme Legate, successor, and son of the Emperor. Thus in the year 1541 Ferdinand took precedence over the Ambassadors of Charles V. In Synods the Legates of the Pontiff preside. In assemblies of the Empire, Electors who are present are customarily placed before the Ambassadors of those absent—deservedly and by right. For the image of an absent dignity yields to present reality. This was also devised so that they would not readily excuse their absence if they were compelled to yield to the servants of their colleagues. Yet elsewhere and among others the arrangement is different.